The Language of Mothers
Price
FREE
Duration
3 hrs
About the Course
This is a free, community-focused research session welcoming all mothers who move and dance, both professionally and non-professionally.
Lead by the Artistic Director of Beyond Words, Helen Calcutt, participants will explore the company's choreographic language of gestural patterning and contemporary movement to connect with their personal narratives and journeys of parenthood, and through creative learning & exchange, find embodied ways of articulating these tender stories.
The session will be structured with set tasks to help the day flow smoothly and support our research. However, this will be a relaxed and informal session, with no expectations or limits. This session is for you. Participants will be encouraged to play with, and explore the tools they're given, in ways that feel good. You will not have to share anything you don’t wish to - and equally, dive deep if this feels right!
We know motherhood comes in various forms: new mothers, mothers-to-be, mothers who have lost, mothers-trying - all are welcome
Please come with a some writing materials (if you have them) in comfortable, lose clothes and with suitable refreshments.
Free spaces will be given on a first-come, first-served basis with a maximum of 10 spaces available.
Your Instructor
HELEN Calcutt is a leading artist and choreographer working with a specialism in text embodiment within theatre & movement. She is the author of three volumes of poetry and Artistic Director of dance-theatre company ‘Beyond Words‘.
Her writing has been published globally. ‘Somehow’ (Verve Poetry Press, 2020), was a PBS Winter Bulletin Pamphlet & Poetry School Book of the Year (2020). Anthology ‘Eighty-Four’ (Verve Press, 2019), created in aid of the suicide prevention charity C.A.L.M. was a Saboteur Award shortlist & a Poetry Wales Book of the Year, 2019. Her full-length collection ‘Feeling All the Kills’ was published by Pavilion Poetry, April 2024.
Helen’s notable research into text-to-dance translation has been funded by Arts Council England & supported by the Birmingham REP Theatre, FABRIC, and One Dance U.K.. Her work in dance is wide ranging, spanning live contemporary to site-specific productions, community projects, and live television. She has performed and collaborated with international organisations including The Birmingham Royal Ballet, Sonia Sabri Company, Autin Dance Theatre, Dundu (Giants of Light), Def Motion, Apple, Shelley Eva Haden (She Swims), Akeim Toussaint Buck (Okan R&D) Poetry International, and the Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony (22′).
Helen was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters by Loughborough University for her outstanding contribution to the arts, December 2023.